I was born on the 27th September 1976 in Rome, at the age of 13 I signed for the AS Roma youth team where I would play for the next three years before making the step up to where I belonged, The Roma First Team where I made my debut on the 28 March 1993 at age 16, it was routine 2-0 win over Brescia.

Since that first day playing for Roma I have gone on to become the Roma All-Time Leading Goalscorer and All-Time Appearance Maker among numerous other records for both club, league and country.

But this is the Story of now, I am 35, too old some say, and playing in a team that I love but that has not competed for major honours for some years now. This is not good enough and I will do everything in my power to see them lift a title, a cup or something of value before I hang up my boots once and for all.

And so, before I go, before I finally finish my career I have decided I will record it all, every game I play and every contribution I make so that one day I can look back upon it all and see just how it all ended for me, It could be in 12 months time or 5 years, who knows. What I do know is that I will help this team to win again.

I hate pre season, the games are meaningless to me, at my age playing in easy wins over smaller teams or money making friendlies doesn't do anything for my fitness and I have never enjoyed them. Now, the season, that is something very different indeed. My favourite time of the year is the opening day weekend, regardless of who we are playing I love being out on the pitch with a whole season ahead of me. This year, we faced Udinese it what would be a tough game all round.

At home to Udinese is a great way to kick off the season and of course, I would be spearheading the attack with my team mate Miralem Pjanic supporting me from an offensive midfield position. It was not long in to the game before I as involved, after just 10 minutes Osvaldo whipped a great ball in to me on the edge of the box from his position on the left, I immediately controlled the ball and looked for the on rushing Pjanic with my back to goal, I was then scythed down by an Udinese player to rightly earn myself a penalty.

Of course, I was to take the penalty and with the crowd breathless awaiting our first goal of the season I sent the keeper the wrong way before rolling the ball in to the bottom right corner of the goal. From there the game drifted on until we earned a corner just before half time, I trotted over to take it and evaluate my options. Burdisso was somehow unmarked in the centre of the box so I quickly clipped a high, looping ball straight on to his head to make it 2-0 to Roma!!, It was not all good however as Nicolas was injured upon scoring his goal.

At half time, the manager told us to shut up shop and counter against Udinese, unfortunately my young 21 year old team mate did not keep his head and gave a penalty away soon after the restart, he was only yellow carded for this but it would go on to cost us more as he was booked for a second time in the 76th minute and sent down the tunnel. I must remember to have a word with him about his discipline but fortunately it did not cost us that match as we saw out the game with 10 men and even had a great chance to make it 3-1 in the final minute of the game. Lamela drillied a fantastic cross in to me from the right wing, naturally I brought it down with ease and hit a curling first time shot towards the upper right corner, this time however the keep was quicker to react and at full stretch he tipped my shot around the post to keep the score to 2-1.

Next we would face Sampdoria away, I was able to fully recover in time for the match as it was scheduled 22 days after out victory over Udinese which meant I was again able to lead the line. The game got off to a terrible start as Andrea Poli scored a direct free kick against us after just 9 minutes, I was determined for this not to happen again and so when he was given the chance again later in the half I threw myself in the path of it and headed it clear, unfortunately in our to rush to get up the other end and attack we gave the ball away leading to another Sampdoria Goal.

At Half time we were only able to make one change due to injuries and I suspect had Lamela not been playing so poorly that I would have been taken off but instead I was sent back out to try and salvage something from the game. It was not to be however as Sampdoria sat back brilliantly and the countered once again late on to finish us off at 3-0, this was a lesson in counter attacking and one our defence, especially Leandro Castan, must learn from, and soon.

Next, we face Inter!! at home and I am determined to keep my place for that match.

A mad couple of games for us started with the visit of Inter, a game I had been looking forward to since the fixtures were announced, but it did not begin well as from an easily defendable cross we left Freddy Guarin unmarked to draw first blood after just 3 minutes!!. Guarin was quick to make it 2-0 after receiving the ball on the edge of the box and just clipping a shot past Stekelenburg without breaking sweat.

The game for me was ended on 28 minutes after taking a hard tackle that put me out of the game, meaning I did not have to face our Managers' fury at half time. I was replaced by our on loan striker Eduardo who was quick to impress in his debut for us, slotting home a well taken penalty just before the end of the half.

His pace served him well against Inter due to the lack of it in their defence, the very thing I failed to exploit during my time in the match, as he broke the offside trap just after the half and rounded the keeper before taking his second of the game. He rounded off his day and sealed his place in the record books with a fantastic third goal for his hat-trick after robbing a defender of the ball before powering a shot past Handanovic.

If that had been the end of the story, it would have been a fantastic day for Roma but it was not to be as we were not confident enough to push on and punish them, instead we sat back and allowed them too long on the ball and enough time for Diego Milito to punish us and end the game at 3 all.

After the superb performance from Eduardo in the Inter game I couldn't expect to keep my place in the team and so as I expected the manager dropped me to the bench and started the on loan striker. Immediately things went wrong as we gave a penalty away after just 6 minutes, but somehow after Pirlo tried to curl it in to the top corner Stekelenburg got a hand to it and pushed it round the corner.

After surviving that scare however, we immediately let Quagliarella through from a ball over the top and he finished easily to give them the lead. Then, to make matters worse, we gave away another penalty and this time Vidal stepped up to drill it past Maarten. As we struggled to limp our way to half time we conceded a soft goal from a corner and I had to watch the players slope off the pitch to be greeted by our furious manager at half time, we had barely touched the ball and we needed another strong second half to save ourselves once again.

The Manager pulled Eduardo and two others at the half and sent me out to rescue the game, to my surprise I was given the chance by the great Buffon himself who played a horrible ball out towards Lichsteiner, I stormed on to it and then with Gigi on the edge of his box I curled a shot round him and in to the net. Less than 5 minutes later Lamela found me with a ball on the penalty spot, leaving me with little to do other than aim for the bottom through a tangle of legs to make it 2-3 with everything to play for.

Our dreams were nearly dashed just 10 minutes later as our young defender Romagnoli gave another penalty, Vidal once again took the responsibility and easily beat our keeper to the bottom left. That was not to be it however as Lamela found Bradley from a corner to give the American his first goal for us, with the scores now at 3-4 we had them where we wanted and it was a mistake from Gigi that gave Lamela the goal to seal his performance, as Buffon hit a ball straight to him on the right wing and then rushed out to try and stop Erik who using his head lobbed a fantastic ball over him and in to the net.

With Juve all over the place and Buffon reeling from his mistake we pushed on and after a fantastic run to the byline and a great cut back to Miralem we had the winner courtesy of a tap in from Pjanic, the game was not done however and I was pleased to see another tackle from Romagnoli, this time judged to not be a penalty and I would not like to think what would have happened had Maarten not made that save from Pirlo early on.

Unfortunately, after an encounter with Vidal during the match I will be missing for the next 2 weeks as I try to recover from a bruised rib.

My injury from the Juventus game kept me out of our next match against struggling Atalanta, It was a fairly routine victory for us with Pjanic and Bradley getting on the scoresheet but worryingly both De Rossi and Bradley were red carded in the game which would leave us light for the next few matches.

After injuries to Eduardo, Osvaldo and Pjanic to add to the suspensions of Bradley and De Rossi I was forced in to playing behind Destro in out next match away to Chievo. Immediately we struggled with several players underforming and I was not at home having to be the linkman between midfield and our lone striker. Thankfully the manager changed things after a poor first half and moved me up front to lead the line and let others, with younger legs, do the running around me.

Still, it took time for us to get a good chance and it was from a corner, As I stood over the ball searching for a target I once again spotted Burdisso in front of his marker, an opportunity not to be passed up and so I clipped in a ball to the near post and he responded by nodding it straight past the struggling keeper. It was not long after that I received a ball from Lopez on the edge of the box, strangely no one had deemed me worthy enough to mark, I would make them pay for this mistake by hitting a low shot under the diving keeper to make it 2-0.

In the end it was an easy victory but out defensive problems were shown once again as we let in a soft goal from a throw in, still a win is a win and I am happy with my own contribution to the match.

Pescara were next to visit the Olimpico and although they were doing well in 6th place, it is a game we were expecting to dominate as we had the Atalanta game, this was not to be however and I am furious that we allowed this game to slip away from us.

After just 1 minute of the match Marquinho had failed to mark the Pescara striker and allowed him to score easily from a corner, this really is not good enough. Thankfully we were given a chance to make amends shortly afterwards as Lamela was hacked down on the outside of the box, close to the left touchline. I once again set myself to take it and looked towards my favourite target, BURDISSO, but as I tried to clip the ball in to him on the 6 yard box I realised instantly that I had over-hit the shot, which would now sail harmlessly in to the keepers hands. However, the keeper had read was I was to do and in an effort to stop it he had charged out to claim the ball over the head of Burdisso and so he was powerless to stop the ball floating in to the net. It has been described as a fluke by members of the media, I merely shrugged and replied "I don't know if it was luck, all I know is that it was Totti"

The game did not end well for us though as young Erik Lamela was sent off for an elbow to the head while chasing down a ball in the opposition penalty area, from 20 yards behind I am convinced it was a dive as I saw Erik do nothing wrong of any sort. The referee then elected to give Pescara a penalty straight after the break and from then on I knew we were doomed and with no one in the hole to support me after Erik's sending off I could not get the support that would have enabled me to influence the game further.

A bad day at the office perhaps, or a *cough* biased referee, who can say. Still, 3rd in the table is nothing to worry about and once everyone is fit we will do better.

My best personal performance of the season so far was in our match away to Cagliari, It began with something of a dull first half where neither team really threatened to do much from anything other than a set piece and it was a set piece that would provide the first goal but perhaps not in the way you might think

It was a corner in fact to Cagliari than was headed clear by our free agent signing Bobo Balde playing at centre back, he cleared it so well that it flew out of the box where Siaka Tiene was on hand to head the ball up to the half way line where I came running on to the ball. My instincts made me race away towards the Cagliari goal, as they had brought everyone up for the corner there would only be the keeper to beat, but at 36 years of age it is not so easy to make up the ground and so by the time I made it in to the box I was very close to being caught. Leaving me with no other option but to shoot, I aimed for the far post, So well in fact that I ended hitting it but fortunately it then bounced over the line for us to take the lead.

A lead we then increased in the second half as our young winger Lopez, playing on the right hand side, spotted our left winger Tiene in space on the far side of the box. He then clipped in a lovely pass to Tiene and brought it down brilliantly, and just as I was expecting him to cross it low to me for the tap in he drilled it past the keeper to claim his first goal for Roma, something I can not begrudge him just for the chance to score myself.

It did not all go to plan however as we left Cagliari back in to the game with two very simple defensive errors from Balde and then worse from our left back Balzaretti who completely lost his marker to allow the equaliser. Fortunately Federico is strong mentally and so late in the game he charged across the half way line to pick the ball up on the overlap from Tiene and hit a great ball in to the box where I was able to connect with a diving header, nearly losing my head to the Cagliari centre back in the process, but it was worth it to see the ball fly over the diving keeper to give us a much needed win.

Next we would face Catania in one of the dullest games of the season and not one that I will ever care to remember after my career is done, if there is one thing I have learned in football it is that you always remember the great wins and you can never forget the horrible losses but the stagnant draws, they will always slip from the memory as so will this game against Catania despite a man of the match performance from De Rossi.

As I was just saying, you can never forget the horrible losses not matter how much you might try to and this game certainly comes under that category. We were meant to face Lazio in the derby but the game had to be re-arranged and so we would clash with Genoa at home instead. The lack of attacking prowess from the last game carried over and to add to it we now had the defensive errors from the Cagliari game too, The first goal came after just 25 minutes when our keeper Stekelenburg parried an easy shot straight back in to the path of the opposition player leaving an easy tap in to get them started.

The game then stagnated until the 55th minute when Balde, who was having a poor day all round, turned an opponents cross straight in to the back of our net. I was furious with him but as I was not able to add anything to the game myself I cannot complain at his own contribution, Somehow our only good player in the game was Miralem who kept trying to get the game started and in the end he ended a mazy tun past three or four players with a very tidy finish past the keeper to try and get us something out of the game but even his great goal was not enough to snap the rest of us back in to action and I now worry about my place in the team for the next match.

And Totti TV highlight of the update this time goes to my goal against Cagliari, if only because a 36 year old should not be able to sprint from the half way line to score a goal but that's life Totti for you.